Manoj Bajpayee talks about actresses overtaking male-dominated Bollywood, cites Vidya Balan and Kajol as examples
Mumbai
Actor Manoj Bajpayee believes that while mainstream Bollywood has traditionally revolved around male protagonists, women have been leading films for years slowly and steadily. The actor inorder to prove his point cited the work of actresses Vidya Balan and Kajol as examples of the gradual shift in the industry.
During a discussion on whether the big screen continues to be male-dominated and whether female actors will take considerable time to be accepted as protagonists in the same way as male actors, Manoj Bajpayee said the change had already been taking place, albeit gradually. “The heroine has been coming as a hero for a long time. I remember so many films of Vidya Balan. I remember Kajol’s movies too. It is taking its time, but it’s happening. What is good that is happening. And it has been happening for a long time, right?” he said. The actor added that the arrival of OTT platforms had made women-led stories more frequent because the financial stakes involved in such projects were not as high as those associated with theatrical productions. “And with OTT, it’s happening more frequently because the stake is not that high,” Bajpayee said.
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Manoj Bajpayee also broadened the discussion beyond women-led films, pointing out that OTT platforms had created opportunities for male actors who were unable to find the right fame in mainstream cinema. “Look at the actors who could not even get rightly consumed earlier. Male actors could not even get consumed by mainstream cinema. They are getting so much respect on OTT,” he said. “And their lifestyle is maintained. They are finding some kind of comfort in their life because of all those roles that they have been getting,” he added.
Talking about Vidya Balan, she has been at the forefront of women-led Hindi films with projects such as ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘Kahaani’, ‘No One Killed Jessica’, ‘Tumhari Sulu’ and ‘Sherni’. Kajol, too, has headlined many films and projects built around complex female characters from movies like ‘Helicopter Eela’, ‘The Trial’, ‘The Good Wife’, ‘Dushman’ and many more. On the professional front, Manoj Bajpayee was recently seen in ‘Gajab Raat’, a suspense thriller starring Divya Dutta and directed by Ritesh Shah. The film premiered on Netflix on October 23.
